Corkscrewed
Corkscrewed is a compilation cassette released by the label Theme Park Records in 1995. It features "Flight 717: Going to Denmark" and "The Admonishing Song" by the Mountain Goats, which were re-released on the Ghana compilation. Tracks Side 1 #"Sleeping In" by Brown Tower #"Waiting for the Sky to Fall" by Nick Jackman #"Flight 717: Going to Denmark" by the Mountain Goats #"The Supermarket Checkout" by Post #"Remote Control" by National Heroes #"No Easy Way Down" by Earl and Osram #"On My Right Side" by Memory of Your Nose #"Bomb Scare #14" by Hood Side 2 #"The Admonishing Song" by the Mountain Goats #"Guess You'd Best Be Gone" by The Losers #"The Sweeney" by Fulcrum #"Real Life Seems" by Hellfire Sermons #"Toilet Trolls" by Wizard Ho-Ho #"Vague Homosexual Teenage Blues" by Dale Shaw #"Thanks" by Thrush #"Lost" by Wingtip Sloat Comments about this release "OK, so just how did the Mountain Goats end up on an obscure cassette compilation released by an obscure UK record label? Short answer, lots of sycophantic grovelling and begging but let’s start at the beginning. One fine day a package arrived from Alan’s Records. Inside was the mysterious seven inch EP Songs for Petronius, described in the Alan’s catalogue as “punk folk”. The moment the needle hit the groove and the opening chords to The Bad Doctor rung out, I knew. I knew this was THE band for me. My life was changed. A cassette label was formulating in my mind and who could I want more to feature on the debut release than the Mountain Goats. Having no way to contact them I decided I would have to track them down... All I knew was they were based in some far off galaxy called the Inland Empire. Afraid of flying I booked a place on a container ship carrying Portland stone out of Southampton going to Port Washington. I hopped on back of the boat and worked my passage cleaning off the stone. After ten days at sea I was glad to finally see land - the Atlantic ocean can be gruelling but it does put colour in your cheeks. From New York I crossed the states by rail, a slow journey but at least I’d get to see America, right? Arriving in Los Angeles I took a bus nearly 2 hours east to Claremont. Now to find them... My luck was in, a flier at the bus depot announced that the Mountain Goats were scheduled to play an open mic that very evening, just round the corner… I was a little late and John was already playing the Doll Song when I walked into the bar. I couldn’t believe I was here watching them in the flesh, a voice inside my head nag, nag nagging me to go up and talk to them. I resisted the voice and waited until the end of the set. I went into the impossibly large dressing room, it was hot but cool air fell through the Venetian blinds. I introduced myself. John said he’d like to begin by saying that he saw me coming. No doubt he did, the dressing room door was open but I saw this as the sign that my quest would be successful. I expressed my love for Songs for Petronius and how brilliant the show had been. I bought copies of Taboo VI: The Homecoming and Transmissions to Horace cassettes. I asked if the Mountain Goats would consider allowing me to use one of their songs on my compilation. John immediately said yes. He was eager to crack the UK market (I may have overstated my record label’s stature.) We ate boiled peanuts then I bid John farewell and began my long journey home. Three weeks later another package landed on my doorstep. The language on the package was wonderful and strange. I started to shake, I got a twitch in my leg and it made me nervous. I carefully tore open the padded envelope and pulled out a hand-labelled SA60 cassette. This precious reel of tape contained the master recordings of a project called Tollund Man (more songs about wild grasses). The cassette contained not one, not two, but five the Mountain Goats songs. The handwritten note that accompanied the cassette said pick two! Wow, two songs! I chose my favourites and that was a nice thing to do. I carefully copied the songs to my master and duly returned the original to its rightful owner. The end. *No names have been changed **Some of this is true ***My copy" -- Russell Hill on Twitter Category:Compilations Category:Discography Category:1995